Implementing Public Dental Care: The CHLPE takes the lead in policy discussions

By Common Law

Communication, Faculty of Law

Research
Centre for Health Law
Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics logo with dental tools
In March of 2022, the Liberal government announced plans to launch a new dental care program for middle- and low-income Canadians, the result of an agreement with the NDP. While the proposed dental program is set to begin in 2022 and expand through to 2025, very little scholarly work has been done on how the federal government can and should implement such a program. The Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics (CHLPE) has now taken the lead on ensuring that those in power have access to relevant and timely policy advice.

The CHLPE, under the guidance of Professor Colleen Flood, was awarded a University of Ottawa Knowledge Mobilization Grant to host an in-camera roundtable on dental care policy. The full-day event, which took place on June 15, 2022, brought leading scholars together with officials from the federal government to discuss policy options for dental care, including what is feasible from constitutional and federalism perspectives.

The aim of the roundtable was to translate knowledge from scholars to inform and impact how the government proceeds in the coming months and beyond. Attendees included leading research experts on federalism, division of powers, health policy, dental policy, fiscal policy, as well as representatives of the federal government and decision-makers with expertise in federal-provincial-territorial negotiations.

Insights from the roundtable will now be summarized in a policy options paper designed to advise key decision makers.

The University of Ottawa’s Knowledge Mobilization Grants are funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Exchange Grant program.